There aren't likely to be too many nights this season where Tom Crean will glance at the scoreboard across from the Indiana bench eight minutes into a game at Assembly Hall and see his young Hoosiers already ahead by 20 points.

It happened Friday night against Samford University in a 105-59 victory, but afterward even Crean seemed surprised the night had gone as smooth and easily as it did against a team coached by one of his former assistants, Bennie Seltzer.

Crean had reason to expect a tougher tussle, starting with the 73-72 scare that LIU Brooklyn had given the Hoosiers just three nights earlier.

Then there was the Seltzer factor. The Samford coach had been a part of Crean's coaching staff for six seasons, including two at Marquette, and the IU playbook had gone with him when he accepted his first head coaching job in 2012 in his hometown of Birmingham, Ala.

Even the oddsmakers had the Hoosiers favored by only 19.5 points — and that was over the course of 40 minutes.

"It's not like we got any older the last couple of days," Crean said of his players Friday night. "We haven't had any birthdays. But the bottom line is I think they've grown. They saw on film they could play so much better. They came out here tonight and did that.

"To a man, everybody improved and took what the game was given them. We established how we wanted to play and we stuck to it."

And it didn't hurt that sophomore point guard Kevin "Yogi" Ferrell hit five of seven 3-pointers on his way to scoring a career-high 26 points. Then there was 6-foot-10 freshman forward Noah Vonleh, who recorded his third-consecutive double-double (13 points, 10 rebounds) to become the first IU freshman since D.J. White to start his college career in such dominating fashion. Then there was 6-7 freshman wing Troy Williams, who almost had a double-double himself with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Williams also had one of the night's more spectacular dunks, and it came off the rebound of a missed 3-pointer by Vonleh.

"Now will they be able to apply it over a period of time? That's what the key is going to be," said Crean.

He should know more after tonight when the Hoosiers face an unbeaten Stony Brook (3-0) team at 4 p.m. Sunday that returns four starters from last season's 25-win squad that lost to Iowa in the second round of the NIT.

And the schedule only gets tougher over the next week, with a trip to New York to close out the 2K Sports Classic with games against Washington and either Boston College or Connecticut on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

With the Seawolves coming to town, Crean said his young players can't afford to be caught looking ahead to playing in Madison Square Garden.

"(Stony Brook has) some players recruited by this league; recruited by the Big East," said Crean. "They might be an up-and-comer nationally ... The people I've talked to that have seen them play are starting to liken them to the next Gonzaga, Butler type of team.

"I think it's going to be a major battle for us because they're older, more experienced. They know how to play."

Apparently, so does this IU team that starts just one senior in Will Sheehey.

If the Hoosiers even have a set starting five, that is. Crean believes he has the one thing the Hoosiers lacked last season — a deep bench.

"We want our depth to be our strength," said Crean.

"What I like about all our freshmen, they're out there trying to make sure the team is better ... They're playing to make the team better."